Hinge construction



E. a. G. LEFEVRE HINGE CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 14, 1938 INVENTOR 514/4 5 6. Zf/TWPA' BY A ORNEY Patented Aug. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved hinge construction. It is particularly designed for the rear door hinges of automobile delivery trucks to act not only as a door hinge, but also as a door stop. A common practice has been to hinge such doors to turn about and to provide some kind of a door stop to prevent banging the doors against the body. Truck drivers are accustomed to swing the doors at the back of delivery trucks between open and closed position with considerable force. This puts large strains on the hinges and on the door stops. The result has been that the hinges or stops or both yield to the strains and frequently the doors open further than planned and are soon hitting the body as well as swinging far enough to knock off license plates and other attachments conveniently mounted at the lower edges of the doors.

One principal object of this invention is to provide an improved hinge construction with a builtin hinge stop, adapted for the particular use mentioned, and in the form of an extremely simple hinge of low cost manufacture and very high efiiciency. -The manner in which this and other objects are attained will appear from a reading of the specification in connection with the drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a view of the hinge mounted with a door and frame in an automobile body construction, the door and frame being broken away and in section;

Fig. 2 is a view of the parts of Fig. 1 but with the door swung to the open position;

Fig. 3 is an expanded view of the hinge elements; and

Fig. 4 indicates the application of the hinge to the rear doors of a delivery truck.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, my hinge structure consists of two flat plate members I and 2, which are preferably attached in the manner shown tothe door 3 and frame. 4 of an automobile body, as indicated. The plate I is formed with integral ears 5 each having a hole 6 therein, while plate 2 has an ear 'I proportioned to fit between the ears 5, with a hole 8 drilled as shown, see Fig. 3. These ears 5 and I are raised slightly above the flat body surface of the plates I and 2 and when the pin 9 is threaded through the holes 6 and 8, the assembly forms a simple strap hinge. Such an assembly is very inexpensive and convenient to make and yet readily adapts itself to the slight but new and very useful alterations, described later, which enable me to attain the objects of my invention,

In Figs. 1 to 3, plate 2, as with any strap hinge,

ends short of the ear "5, being beveled off as at iilgtto provide clearance for the ears 5 of plate I when the hinge is being opened and the plates rotating about pin 9. Similarly, edge It in plate I, between the ears 5, is dimensioned to accommodate the ear i of plate 2.

On plate 2.1 have provided a shoulder I2 formed integrally with the eye 1. As appears inFigs. l and 2, this shoulder 12 has a flat surface I3 which istangent to the outer circumference of the eye 7 at M. Surface I3 extends from itsjpoint of tangency with eye '5 towards the right atpa slight angle to the horizontal until it meets the extended bottom surface of plate 2. ..Comparing the closed door position of Fig. land the opened door position of Fig. 2, shoulder I2 formsan abutment with its flatsurface It positioned to contact edge II to limit the door opening. to. the position in which the plates I and 2 are in substantially the same plane, the. door rotating through approximately 180 in going from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2.

As indicated, for strength and maximum saving in metal, the ears in the usual strap hinge of this type are formed as extensions of the metal of. the plates themselves, the shanks of the earsfairing into the top and bottom surfaces of the plates in themanner shown by plate I. By comparison of the two plates, I and 2, it is plain that I have obtained the shoulder I2 without substantially altering the manner in which the ear I would normally be formed in the case of a simple strap hinge. The curve with which the shank of ear I meets the top surface of plate 2 remains the same while the bottom surface of that plate has simply been extended on a more gradual slope to end at the meeting line with flat surface I3. Not only have I by this design maintained the inherent strength of the hinge, but I have provided the shoulder I2 without substantially adding to the weight of the hinge. Also, by placing the contacting surface I3 where I have, ear I has not been weakened because pin 9 has as much of the metal of 45 the eye surrounding it in the case of ear I as with ear 5.

In the manufacture of hinges for the modern car, it is admittedly preferable to use drop forgings as much as possible for the sake of strength. 50 As will be readily appreciated by those accusto-med to working with drop forgings, my hinge is particularly well adapted to be made up by such a process, each plate being of simple flat form, with the ears 5 or I formed at the end. 55

And in the form shown, the hinge finishing operations after forging the parts are easy to do. Of course the same hinge structure can be made of cast parts where for any reason that is desirable, and such castings are very simple ones to make.

In Fig, 4, when these hinges I5 are used on the back doors of a delivery truck I6 they may.

be mounted, as indicated, adjacent the corners of each door along the vertical edges thereof. Then when the doors are opened by turning the handle IT and swinging each door about the hinges, the motion of the door is sufiicient to allow free access to the interior of the truck, but not enough to permit the number plate and tail light bracket I8 or any other customary fixtures which may be attached to the doors to bump against the body of the truck to thereby damage them.

As was pointed out earlier in the specification, truck drivers are customarily somewhat careless and rough when opening these doors and my structure has been arranged to counteract this type of usage as much as possible. For instance, when the door is opened to the position of Fig. 2 the force of the shock of edge I I abutting against shoulder I2 at flat surface I3 is directed along the single plane of plates I and 2, using all the metal of these plates to take the shock in substantially straight lines, and so the force is best applied to be absorbed by the hinge and door frame. This force, because of my construction, is in the nature of a blow directed at right angles to the body, rather than a shearing force at an angle to the hinge. Likewise, with the abutting surfaces located between the ears 5, this blow is directed down the center of each plate where the most strength is available.

The contacting surfaces at the point of abutment provided by the edge II and shoulder I2 are of substantially the same thickness as the plates I and 2 themselves, as well as in the same plane, and therefore will stand up and not increase the door opening after a period of rough usage. The pin 9 is located close to the body plane of the plates I and 2 and it is possible to provide for the thick abutting edges without incorporating a substantial quantity of additional metal for the shoulder I2, whereby the cost of the hinge is held very close to that of a simple strap hinge.

While in the preceding description I have dealt with the hinge construction in its preferred form with the abutting surface I I located between the ears 5 and its complementary abutting surface I2 constructed on the back of the ear I, it is to be understood that the scope of my invention is not necessarily limited to this particular arrangement, as the desired results could be obtained by reshaping edge I!) in the plate 2 to form an abutment and constructing a companion abutment on the ears 5 as a modified structure. This last construction is mentioned merely by way of example, as other arrangements will occur to those skilled in the art. The one specifically disclosed is the one preferred and best form of my invention.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided an extremely compact hinge structure which, while particularly efiicient in its operation, is nevertheless simple, involving the most inexpensive mechanical detail arrangements for my special object. The invention as disclosed is admirably suited for the purpose described.

I claim:

A hinge comprising two rectangular fiat hinge plates having a thickness small in comparison to the length and width and formed with gooseneck extensions along one edge, said extensions arising up from the fiat surface of said plates and extending outwardly beyond the edge of the fiat surface, complementary eyes formed in the terminal portions of the gooseneck extensions with the axes of said eyes and their inner circumferences slightly spaced above and arranged parallel to the flat surface of said plates, a pivot pin threading said eyes and a pair of abutments arranged to hold said hinge plates in substantially the same plane and in alignment when the hinge is opened, one of said abutments being formed by the edge of one of the plates substantially at the root of the gcoseneck extensions on said plate and the other of said abutments being formed as a tangent to the outer circumference of at least one of the eyes on said second plate, the contact plane of said abutments lying at substantially right angles to the common plane of said hinge plates in open position, the area of contact having a width equal to that of the flat hinge plates.

EIWIL B. G. LEFEVRE. 

